Werewolf
Werewolves (also called Lycanthropes and Loup Garou) are a near-extinct supernatural species of individuals which unwillingly transform into fearsome, and extremely hostile wolves during full moons. Even in their human form, all werewolves do possess superhuman physical prowess. Werewolves are the most dangerous enemies of vampires because a bite from a werewolf can kill a vampire. Werewolves are designed to kill vampires on sight in their wolf form. Though they still hunt human prey when there are no vampires to kill. History Not much is known about the history of werewolves except that they existed before vampires. They were created over 1,000 years ago. Who created them, how they were created, when exactly they were created and the reason for their creation is currently unknown but since they call their supernatural condition a curse, it may very well be a magical curse placed on the original members of their species by witches. However, if this is the case, it has yet to be proven. Werewolves actively populated the New World during the early Middle Ages as Viking invasions began in Europe. Most, if not all, of the land's inhabitants were werewolves and they lived along side one another in villages. They also lived alongside humans and, to protect their loved ones, they made sure that they had access to natural means of protection for them. One of the most notable locations of a werewolf village was the location of Mystic Falls. Beneath the area was a series of tunnels that provided protection for the humans when the werewolves turned on the full moon. One clear rule of the village was that the humans were forbidden from being with the wolves when they turned. A notable event in the history of the werewolves comes with the arrival of inhabitants of the 'Old World' where a plague had been devastating the population. The newcomers included Mikael, his wife Esther, and Esther's witch mentor and friend, Ayana. Having lost their child in Europe, Mikael and Esther wanted to be able to raise a family free from illness and Ayana had led them to the New World where they could live in peace. The villagers accepted the new family and they became an integral part of of the village life with Ayana become the local healer and contact with the spirits. Mikael and Esther finally built a family, giving birth to five sons and a daughter: Elijah, Finn, Niklaus, Kol, Rebekah and Henrik. However, when Henrik and Niklaus broke the rule one night and went to see the wolves turn, Henrik was killed by the turned wolves. Determined to not lose anymore family but not wanting to run anymore, Mikael and Esther used a forbidden ritual to turn their children and Mikael himself into indestructible beings with stronger and more attuned reflexes than the werewolves, a race that would later be know as the vampires. However, the newly-turned family's lust for blood led them to shatter the peace of their village, feeding on the innocent inhabitants of the town. When Niklaus made his first human kill, Esther's darkest secret came to light: Niklaus was not Mikael's son but the son of one of the werewolf villagers. Killing a human activated his werewolf gene and he turned into a vampire/werewolf hybrid. Furious at his wife's betrayal, Mikael slaughtered her lover and half of the remaining villagers, igniting the war that had since lasted between vampires and werewolves. After the slaughter and their mother's death at Niklaus hands, the Original family scattered and begun traveling the Old and New Worlds, turning other people into vampires. The war between vampires and werewolves came to a head when vampires discovered that a bite from a werewolf could kill them, and therefore set about massacring the entire werewolf race. The werewolves (Lycanthropes or La Garou) were driven to near-extinction by the massacres and later turned vampires even began to believe that werewolves were a mere myth. In reality, werewolves had survived and reorganized themselves into packs to help one another evade the vampires and also help each other through their very painful transformations. Psychological characteristics Werewolves are known to be aggressive, strong and fast even in human form. Tyler Lockwood often had trouble controlling his temper. Those with the werewolf curse still latent can exhibit some supernatural traits which can be triggered by aggression, along with unusual physical strength for the person's given size and age but they cannot fully transform and they also black out when they go blind with rage for no reason. Werewolves seem to have a strong sense of duty to protect their own. Also, werewolves have a higher body temperature than humans. When Tyler first activates his curse he states that his skin feels as if it's on fire. With the curse activated their eyes turn yellow (the eyes of a wolf) while enraged, as Mason's eyes did when he stopped the fight between Tyler and Carter (Brave New World). Activating the curse is also painful. While some werewolves prefer to keep to themselves and keep their beastly natures hidden, most seem to aggregate themselves into packs and residing in areas isolated from general human society. In 1864, George Lockwood attacked several humans and killed them, leaving horrific wounds on the corpses, (essentially ripping them apart) much worse than some vampires would have. This is evident when Henry tells Katherine that the wounds "worse than anything he had ever seen before." Despite this, with the cooperation of Katherine Pierce, who was running from The Originals, George was able to convince the Mystic Falls town council that vampires were responsible which lead to their round up. It is unknown if George continued his attacks there or elsewhere. Food Like normal humans, werewolves can eat normal food if they wish. However, because they turn into ferocious beasts during the full moon, they are flesh eating creatures. When they feed, it is absorbed throughout the body and they consume organs or body parts, but they do not have to feed in order to prolong their existence like Vampires. There is no known penalties in the absence of devouring victims in werewolf form. It seems that most werewolves do not get to feed because most tend to lock themselves up during the full moon, or that before or after they make a kill, they're scared off before they get to chance to truly feed. Werewolves have not been seen to attack each other in human or lupine form, but have been known to hunt both human and vampire prey while transformed under the full moon. Jules, for example, was seen to be horrified when she woke up to find she'd slaughtered a group of campers after attacking Rose. Unstable hybrids also have the urge to attack vampires regardless of what form they are in, as witnessed in The Hybrid when a werewolf instinctively attacks the vampire Damon Salvatore instead of pursuing its first choice, Elena Gilbert, and when Ray (a newly turned hybrid) instinctively attacked Damon on sight. Code Of Loyalty Werewolves are very similar to witches when it comes to their own kind. Unlike the vampires, werewolves are more sworn to loyalty and may bond with other werewolves they meet. They form Packs and work with each other as sort of an extended family. The bond of loyalty between werewolves is strangely strong, while changed under full moons, the only things they do not attack are other werewolves (triggered curse or not). This code does seem to extend to Klaus' hybrids too. It's possible that another reason why Klaus' hybrids were loyal, was because of their werewolf heritage. However vampires have been known to "Sire" too, though that is rare. Appearance Werewolves in their wolf form have the appearances not too far apart from a real wolf, but with glowing yellow eyes, wicked fangs, and a larger more brutish. When there is the full moon after sunset they will transform into a canine form, looking very much like a timber wolf, although larger. They can also be distinguished from regular wolves by their displays of supernatural strength, speed, and overall size. The fur color of wolf forms differs from one to the other (e.g., Tyler Lockwood's fur color is dark brown, Mason Lockwood's is white and grey, Jules is light brown and a hints of white). Werewolves appear the same as any other human the rest of the month, apart from the full moon. Triggering The Werewolf Gene A werewolf has to kill a human in order to trigger their werewolf gene in order to activate their powers. It also does not matter if the gene was activated accidentally, or it was intentional. After the gene is triggered their eyes will turn yellow and their powers will activate instantly. A Werewolf who has yet to trigger his or her curse will only exhibit increased aggression and overwhelming fits of rage during nights of the full moon. Werewolf Transformation A werewolf will only transform in to a wolf under a full moon. The first transformation is quite slow and the person is subjected to at least five or six hours of intense pain before the actual transformation. After the first transformation it will get faster but still hurt. During the transformation, the body of the person is twisted in an unnatural manner as bones reshape and shift to form a wolf’s skeleton, causing the person immense physical and psychological pain. Later, the werewolf grows excessive body hair and becomes feral and huge eyes that glow yellow and fangs, then in minutes the werewolf will become a wolf. A werewolf returns to their human form after a few hours, sometimes shorter, sometimes longer. After the first transformation the werewolf will experience muscle aches. Older werewolves can control themselves to some extent on the night of the full moon. Powers and Abilities Werewolves' powers and abilities are enhanced and are at their peak during a full moon, but somewhat increase as they age. *'Super Strength'- Werewolves are much stronger than humans. They are not as strong as a vampire whilst in human form, but during the full moon they are more powerful than Non-Original vampires. Rose, a 560 year-old vampire was knocked down and over-powered by the transformed werewolf Jules. Another case was when Damon Salvatore, a 172 vampire barely held off the transforming newborn werewolf, Tyler Lockwood. Transformed werewolves are also capable of tearing apart entire groups of witches. *'Super Speed' - Werewolves are much faster than humans. Some werewolves are shown to be just as fast as their vampire enemies, but others have not. In wolf form however, their speed rivals most vampires. * and Carter]]Super Agility - Werewolves possess superhuman agility. They can move, jump, climb, flip, and run incredibly fast without difficulty or exhaustion. *'Super Durability - '''Werewolves can take far more trauma than Humans can without much discomfort or injury. They can also exert themselves without much tire. *'Healing Factor' - Werewolves possess superhuman regenerative abilities, meaning if ever injured, their bodies will heal near-instantaneously. Like vampires, werewolves can heal from the most grievous of injuries, albeit rather slowly in comparison. Unlike vampires, when a werewolf’s neck is broken, they stay dead. But while they heal slower, they are harder to injury. *'Super Senses -''' Werewolves have the extremely keen senses of smell, sight, taste, and hearing inherent in all canines. Experienced werewolves like Jules could sniff out vampires—something vampires themselves are incapable of—and Tyler sensed vervain placed in coffee, which would otherwise be impossible since the flavor is usually hidden by the coffee. * Werewolf Bite - The bite of a Werewolf is extremely lethal to normal Vampires but not to an Original. While an Original cannot die from the bites, they are not wholly immune to the effects of the bite. *'Anger '- When a Werewolf is furious, their anger increase all their power and abilities for a short period of time, as well as can have an advantage over a vampire. *'Shapeshifting' - During a full moon, they will unwillingly turn into wolves. *'Lie Detection' - Werewolves are able to sense if you're lying or not. Weaknesses *'Broken Neck' - By breaking a werewolf's neck, it results in instant death. *'Wolfsbane' - When ingested, wolfsbane causes a werewolf to become severely weak and feverish. Also, If a werewolf's skin is exposed to wolfsbane, it will result in burning them. *'Gilbert Device' - Invented by Jonathan Gilbert (Enchanted by Emily Bennett), the Device was a weapon designed to emit a high-frequency noise that could only be heard by vampires and werewolves. *'Decapitation' - If the head of a werewolf is dismembered, it results in death. *'Magic' - Witches are able to curse and inflict supernaturals aneurysms that cause the blood vessels of werewolves to explode. *'Heart Extraction' - If a werewolves' heart is ripped out, it will cause instant death. *'Blood Loss' - If a werewolf is severely wounded and bleeds out before they can heal, as when Stefan threw a stake into ones jugular, the werewolf bled out and died before it could fully heal, and when Klaus impaled the werewolf Paige through the chest. Myths *'Silver'- They are not weakened by or allergic to silver, as Mason explained after Damon stabbed him with a silver knife. Mason said that the myth was probably started by werewolves. Its the opposite effect however and they just heal from it. That's why Klaus can't be killed by the white oak daggers. *'Wolfsbane'- Several myths have spanned around the herb and its relation and effects upon Werewolves. Some of which being that Wolfsbane supposedly either causes or cures Lycantrophy. Appearances in Wolf Form *''Bad Moon Rising'' *''By The Light of the Moon'' *''The Last Day'' *''The Sun Also Rises'' *''The Hybrid'' *''The Ties That Bind'' *''After School Special'' Known Werewolves Trivia *It's unclear why the werewolf bite is lethal to a vampire. However, since in the natural world species that are design to hunt down a specific creature as a prey are supposed to evolve with that purpose in mind, it might be some kind of adaptation on part of the werewolves in order to survive after the vampires began the werewolf genocide. Another theory is that a witch might have gave the ability to the species as a whole, but neither theory has been proven. *Werewolves are the antithesis to Vampires. *Mystic Falls, New Orleans, and Portland are all werewolf hotspots. However, the gene in Mystic Falls died out when Tyler was turned into a hybrid, and the wolves of New Orleans were driven out by the vampires. *Hayley is currently the only confirmed living werewolf in the TV series as of Graduation. *When turned into hybrids, werewolves are still more wolf than vampire. *Mason Lockwood was the first full-blooded werewolf seen on the show and the first werewolf seen in wolf form. *Jules was the first female werewolf on the show. *According to Klaus, werewolves tend to travel in packs. *Werewolves are an older species than vampires, as Klaus' father and other members of the Original family's village were werewolves before The Originals turned into vampires. *In the books, The Original Pack, Tyler Smallwood, Caroline Forbes, Caroline's unborn twin children and Jacob Smallwood were the only werewolves. *In the series, it was unknown that Lockwoods have werewolf gene until Bad Moon Rising. But it was hinted in some episodes. **First was The Turning Point. After the scene Tyler hit Jeremy, he asked him "What is your problem, man?" when a full moon can be seen in the sky, explaining his aggressive behaviors. **It was also hinted in Founder's Day. When John activated the device that would incapacitate vampires, Tyler was also able to hear the noise and he lost the control of the car because of the painful noise that the device caused. *According to an interview, the werewolf transformation was designed to be a dance for actors. *The transformations of Mason, Jules, and Tyler are the only ones shown in the TV series. *It seems that werewolf families share the same birth mark. *No one has been shown to die from a wolf bite yet. *According to Shane, witches may have been responsible for the creation of werewolves. *According to an interview on the 2013 San Diego Comic Con, Julie Plec stated that when werewolf women are pregnant that's the one time the curse releases itself so the werewolf bloodlines can continue to procreate, or else the shape-shifting would kill the baby in the womb. Gallery TylersEye.jpg|Tyler's eye Werewolfpromo.jpg|Mason after his transformation Cellar3claw.jpg|Claw marks in the cellar Vlcsnap-2010-12-10-19h52m43s14.png|Jules in her wolf form vlcsnap-2011-04-30-12h23m13s168.png|Tyler's wolf form vlcsnap-2010-12-10-20h04m01s131.png|Mason in his wolf form The_Vampire_Diaries_S03E02_HDTV_XviD-ASAP-6.jpg|Werewolf stares down Elena Gilbert vlcsnap-2011-04-30-12h23m16s199.png|Tyler in his wolf form vlcsnap-2010-12-10-20h11m50s218.png|Tyler's face while transforming vlcsnap-2010-12-10-20h16m13s29.png|Tyler getting ready for his first transformation vlcsnap-2010-12-10-20h26m13s143.png|Tyler after his first transformation vlcsnap-2011-05-01-00h24m45s161.png|Damon bitten by Tyler vlcsnap-2011-05-01-00h28m57s123.png|Rose's werewolf bite by Jules vlcsnap-2011-05-01-00h29m29s184.png|Werewolf bite vlcsnap-2011-05-03-18h29m03s239.png|Mason's eyes 796.jpg 3x02Thehybridwerewolf.JPG|The werewolf that attacks Elena vampirediaries3x02werewolf.JPG lastdaywerewolf.JPG|Tyler as a wolf 2x03-Bad-Moon-Rising-werewolf-the-vampire-diaries-tv-show-15812587-624-352.jpg imagesCA1K0I6H.jpg Babywolf.jpg|Klaus and Hayley's Unborn Baby wolf manifestation See also * List of werewolves - a complete list of all werewolves that have appeared in the series. Category:Supernatural Category:Species Category:Werewolves